Awl and Marking Knife Swap

I made this boxed set for the LJ marking knife and awl swap. The wood is spalted maple that I stabilized and turned. The ferrules are copper tubing. The steel for the awl started out in life as a spade bit and the blade of the marking knife is from a piece of O1 tool steel I had laying around. The box is poplar w/ a mahogany lid. I sent it to ShaneA and I hope that he enjoys using them as much as I enjoyed making them. This was a very fun project and knowing that it was going to a fellow LJ I wanted to step up my game a bit. I think that is the real benefit of participating in these swaps. Thanks for looking.

They are great Bondo. The pictures don’t do the fit and finish full justice. The tools seems like they will be great users and plenty rugged. The box just took them over the top. Almost like a commemorative special edition set. Thanks for the efforts, the tools are appreciated.

How does that work? I know how I deal with it… I turn it down then use CA glue on the punky spots but if it’s real bad I just put the piece aside and go on to another. I deal with worm holes the same way, a little CA glue, sprinkle with sawdust then top with CA glue, works well but gets expensive. I’ve tried epoxy but don’t like the muddy appearance. I’m interested in how others deal with it.

I put the blank in vacuum chamber and add this stuff called Cactus Juice and suck the air out of the chamber. Let it sit in there for 24 hours, then bake it to set the resin. Then I turn it as I normally would. I should add that my vacuum chamber is a pickle jar and Harbor Freight brake bleeder. This is my set up, very simple and inexpnsive if you use the HF 20% discount coupon. Obviously this limits the size of pieces I can do but it has been adequate for wine stoppers and awls. I just have to get a larger pickle jar if I want to go bigger. It seems like a lot of work and it adds a number of steps and is only worth it if you use some truly amazing pieces of wood. The kind of wood that would be worthy of a LJ swap ; ).

Yes, I have used the Minwax Hardener. It doesn’t have to be baked and that is a plus but it also darkens the wood quite a bit. The Cactus Juice is very clear, I think it is acrylic and doesn’t alter the color and the punky spots are no longer punky.